Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument

Extraordinary fossils embedded in the banks of the Snake River have been exposed by the carving action of the river. Planning is underway to provide for continuing paleontological research and for the display and interpretation of fossil specimens that have been found in this 4,280-acre monument.The fossil beds of the Hagerman Valley, Idaho, are known to paleontologists throughout the world for the quantity, quality, and diversity of their Pliocene age fossils, which are approximately 3.5 million years old. The monument lies on the west side of the Snake River along a spectacular bluff, 550 feet high and 6 miles long. Just west of the monument is the small community of Hagerman, which is 90 miles southeast of Boise.

Although there are other established paleontological areas in the U.S., Hagerman is unique. The Hagerman Valley paleontological sites were first excavated by the Smithsonian Institution around the 1930s. Their scientific and educational significance has been documented in more than 200 published scientific papers. The monument offers an extremely diverse ancient flora and fauna, represented by over 110 individual species, and more than 500 sites for the scientific study of populations and ancient ecosystems.

Perhaps the true importance of the Hagerman fossils is yet to be defined. Recently a log was discovered that is estimated to be three million years old. The log has not been fossilized; it retains the original organic cell structure and DNA. This is the only known recovery of original wood in the United States dating from the Tertiary period, when high mountians were formed and mammals were thought to begin their dominance of the land. Through the use of modern technology to study this specimen, an opportunity exists to actually examine the ecological organization of that ancient ecosystem.

221 N State Street
P.O. Box 570
Hagerman, ID 83332
(208) 837-4793